The present invention relates generally to peripheral equipment for use with a notebook personal computer (xe2x80x9cnotebook PCxe2x80x9d) or portable terminal, a portable electronic apparatus or a personal digital assistant (xe2x80x9cPDAxe2x80x9d), and other electronic apparatuses, and more particularly to an expansion unit for use with the electronic apparatus or hardware. The xe2x80x9cperipheral equipmentxe2x80x9d, as used herein. is such hardware as is connectable with a PC body and realizes a necessary function. It may be roughly categorized in terms of its use into an external storage device such as a hard disk drive, an output device such as a printer, an input device such as a mouse and a scanner, and a communication device such as a modem and a network connection device. The xe2x80x9cexpansion unitxe2x80x9d may conceptually include a docking station, a docking bay (device), and an expansion bay (device), etc., and indicate an interface device that is connectible commonly to various units having diverse specifications to provide a connection between the unit and an electronic apparatus. Accordingly, the expansion unit differs from a PC card in that it easily makes the unit multifunctional.
The recent development and spread of notebook PCs, portable terminals and portable electronic apparatuses have increasingly demanded compact and lightweight notebook PCs for portability purposes which nevertheless exhibit such affluent functions on a desk in an office as a desktop personal computer (xe2x80x9cdesktop PCxe2x80x9d). For example, a PC body is made light and CD-ROM drives etc. that are connectible to or built in it have been proposed. However, a CD-ROM drive, if built in the computer body, would bulk up the body and deteriorate its portability. Those drives which are different in specification, such as a CD-ROM drive and a high-density floppy disk (LS-120), use different connectors for connection with the PC body. An attempt to functionally expand a notebook PC would thus need a plurality of connectors preventing the miniaturization of the PC body. In other words, the conventional notebook PC cannot include multiple connectors for miniaturization purposes, and thus cannot become multifunctional.
Therefore, various methods of functionally expanding notebook PCs, portable terminals, and portable electronic apparatuses have hitherto been proposed. For example, a prior art has proposed to realize multifunction notebook PCs using a PC card. The xe2x80x9cPC cardxe2x80x9d is a standard of card-type peripheral equipment for PCs that has been jointly developed by PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) and JEIDA (Japan Electronic Industries Development Association). The PC card has a size of 85.6 mmxc3x9754 mm, and three types I, II, and III according to its thickness (of 3.3 mm, 5.0 mm and 10.5 mm, respectively) or four types further including Thick Type having a thickness of 18.0 mm.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-31025 has proposed to functionally expand a notebook PC using PC cards having a plurality of thicknesses (i.e., a plurality of types). As shown in FIG. 2 of the reference, a PC card slot is provided in the notebook PC. The slot is connected to a cutaway portion, which is covered with a rotatable cover under the PC body. The notebook PC of the reference is configured to be connectible both to the PC card of Type II (two pieces at maximum), and to the PC card of Type III that is thicker than Type II. The PC card of Type II is inserted into the slot with its cutaway portion remaining covered. When the PC card of Type III is inserted, the cover is rotated in such a manner as to uncover the cutaway portion, and the PC card of Type III is plugged in the slot and cutaway portion so as to partially project the card from the bottom of the notebook PC.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-219689 (or U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,932) has proposed a printer built-in notebook PC by mounting the printer in a Type II or III PC card. The PC card is inserted from a side of the PC so that a part of the card may be projected from the PC body.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-303052 (or U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,732) has proposed a notebook PC that can establish wireless communications using radio frequency signals by attaching a wireless communication device comprised of an antenna and a GPS receiver to a PC card. The PC card is inserted from a side of a PC so that the antenna and the GPS receiver may project from a side of the PC. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-259238 has proposed a GPS device that may be inserted into a PC card slot. In this GPS device, an antenna portion is joined in a manner permitting a mechanical movement thereof with a GPS receiving processor portion that is inserted into the PC card slot. The GPS device is characterized in that the antenna part pivotably supported, while keeping bent, on a receiving part.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications Nos. 11-88486 and 11-88487 have proposed notebook PCs that may serve as a communication device by installing in a PC card a cellular phone holder electrically connectible to a cellular phone. The cellular phone holder may be electrically connected to and hold the cellular phone. The PC card is inserted so that the cellular phone holder and the cellular phone may project from a side of the PC body.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-128091 discloses a notebook computer that has an image pickup device connectible to a PC card with a cable. However, an image pickup portion including an image-pickup lens is still too large for portability. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-271376 has proposed a CCD camera built-in notebook PC that has improved portability by mounting the entire CCD camera onto the PC card. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos. 8-9215 (or U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,218) and 7-322117 (or European Patent Application No. 683,596) also disclose techniques of building a CCD camera in a card-shaped housing.
Attachment techniques of a CCD camera or other USB-compatible units through a USB port instead of a PC card are known in the art as well. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-53060 discloses a notebook PC equipped with a CCD-camera USB port at a top of its display section so that the camera is connectible directly or via cable to the USB port. The USB port is compatible with a printer or keyboard in addition to the CCD camera.
Japanese Utility-Model Registration No. 3011657 discloses an electronic camera that may be detachably stored in a concave portion provided on a desktop PC body and connected via a connector with the PC body in the concave portion. The concave portion is called bay in the reference, but actually a storage space dedicated to the electronic camera.
While the above-mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-31025 discloses a slot which supports two types of the PC card, i.e., Type II and Type III, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 6-102967 (or U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,455,746, 5,617,301 and 5,627,731) discloses a slot which supports four types of the PC card, i.e., Types I to III and Thick Type.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-31025 discloses a plurality of slots each capable of storing a Type II PC cards, but a device connectable to a notebook PC via a cable which device has a single slot capable of storing a plurality of PC cards is also known. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-6548 (or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 666,938) discloses a disk array device having a connector connectible to a PC and including a plurality of PC card slots each capable of storing a PC card.
Several Notebook PCs and other electronic apparatuses compatible with an expansion unit have also been proposed. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications Nos. 6-75661 and 7-302140 disclose an electronic apparatus selectively connectible to a PC-card or removable-memory expansion unit. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-283066 (or European Patent Application No. 869,420) discloses a notebook PC selectively connectible to an expansion unit for a hard disk drive or a data transceiver expansion unit for a wireless network connection. An apparatus equipped with a wireless communication function is also disclosed as a portable computer having an antenna and a slot for an optional device in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 5-257897.
A concave space, into which peripheral equipment can be inserted into the PC body, has been conventionally called a bay. Particularly, some portable information processors (which include, and will hereinafter include as well, portable PCs, notebook computers or portable electronic apparatuses) are provided with a bay, into which various kinds of expansion units (peripheral equipment or the like, such as a FDD, a HDD and a CD-ROM drive) can be inserted. This bay is configured to allow a user to detachably insert an expansion unit into the bay, and in many cases the user can select one from a plurality of expansion units (peripheral equipment or the like, such as an FDD and a HDD, a CD-ROM drive) and insert it into the bay. Specifically, a user may have a plurality of expansion units beforehand, and as necessary, insert/detach these expansion units into/from the bay to use them. For example, a user, when wishing to use a floppy disk, may insert an FDD into the bay to make a floppy disk available. Then the user, if wishing to use a CD-ROM, may eject the FDD out of the bay and insert the CD-ROM drive to make a CD-ROM available. The bay in a portable information processor differs substantially from a bay or slot in a desktop information processor in that a user can readily attach and detach the expansion unit. The bay that the desktop information processor may include is so configured as to fasten inserted peripheral equipment undetachably using screws. The portable information processor requires a bay because the processor does not have sufficient volume/area to accommodate all necessary devices and apparatuses. For example, a potable information processor may include both of an FDD and a CD-ROM drive, but becomes bulk because of much volume/area occupied by these devices. The more peripheral devices the user wants, the bigger the apparatus becomes. Thus a portable information processor would not be made small. Accordingly, as stated above, such a configuration is adopted to select one from a plurality of expansion units and attach it to a bay in a user-detachable manner. This kind of bay is provided in a variety of notebook computers, portable information processors, portable personal computers, and portable electronic apparatuses. Some of these apparatuses include a plurality of such bays. Moreover, attachable expansion units include not only an FDD and a CD-ROM drive but a DVD drive, a battery unit, and the like. The above bay may be termed differently, as may be called expansion bay, expansion bay slot, and multi-purpose bay.
Several printers that may be inserted into a bay have been proposed. For instance, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-35957 discloses a printer that may be mounted in a 5-inch drive bay. This printer includes a switch-back type paper feed path to realize a thin printer body. In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-105359 discloses a thermal printer that may be mounted in a 3.5-inch drive bay.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 5-342162 discloses an AC adapter that may be inserted into a battery storage portion to establish connection. The battery storage portion is originally designed for a battery pack storage space. The battery pack storage portion is configured to fix and hold a battery pack in a storage state when it accommodates the battery pack, and to allow the battery pack to be detached. The AC adapter has substantially the same shape as that of the battery pack. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-79566 discloses another embodiment of the AC adapter that may be inserted into a battery storage portion to establish connections. This AC adapter has a structure that allows its AC cord to be wrapped around the AC adapter itself. For instance, when a notebook PC is carried, the AC cord is wrapped around the AC adapter, and then the AC adapter is stored in the battery pack. Thereby, the AC cord is prevented from hanging down. However, the above AC adapter may be used only for the battery storage portion, and has no potential for expansion.
Although current functional expansion devices functionally expand electronic apparatuses, further functional expansion is being expected. Areas to be functionally expanded include a wide range, e.g., a storage system, a communication system, a printing system, an input system, and a security system.
In order to functionally expand the electronic apparatus, it is firstly conceivable to provide an expansion slot including a PC card slot to the electronic apparatus, and connect a dedicated functional expansion device to the expansion slot. Hereupon, the xe2x80x9cexpansion slotxe2x80x9d is a slot for connecting peripheral equipment with an electronic apparatus or accommodating a functional expansion card therein, and may be called an expansion bus slot. However, as described above, a conventional notebook PC cannot include many connectors so as to miniaturize its body, while each slot generally has a terminal shape dedicated to only one functional expansion device. Thus, the functional expansion by increasing the number of expansion slots has a limitation.
On the other hand, the functional expansion using only a PC card and PC card slot also has a limitation. The PC card slot may be conveniently used for multifunction purposes where the PC card is configured to be connectible with or include a printer or CCD camera. However, originally, the development of PC cards has not expected the PC card to be connected to those devices which include a storage system, a communication system, a printing system, an input system, and a security system. Thus, there are connection difficulties as well as packing difficulties.
Furthermore, a size of a conventional bay (such as an expansion bay and a multi-purpose bay) has depended upon a thickness of a notebook computer, a portable information processor, a portable personal computer, or a portable electronic apparatus. In addition, a space/thickness that an expansion bay may occupy tends to decrease, with the trend moving toward a reduced size and thickness of a portable electronic apparatus, etc. A portable information processor that is given high priority to its portability is required to have a compact, lightweight and thin body, so that some devices have only a PC card slot and other devices have no expansion bay. Some portable information processor has an expansion bay not internally but externally.
Thus, the inventors have found that it is preferable to enhance functions of an electronic apparatus by using an expansion unit that intrinsically aims at multiple functions and an expansion bay that is connected to the electronic apparatus to accommodate the expansion unit. An effective expansion of a desired function among a storage system, a communication system, a printing system, an input system, and a security system has not been available. In addition, an electronic apparatus must be kept compact, lightweight and thin.
Therefore, it is an exemplified general object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful expansion unit and electronic apparatus in which the above disadvantages are eliminated.
Another exemplified and more specific object of the present invention is to provide an expansion unit and electronic apparatus in which the expansion unit may keep the electronic apparatus small, lightweight and thin while expand functions of the apparatus more effectively.
In order to achieve the above objects, an expansion unit as an exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing which can be inserted into an expansion bay slot in an electronic apparatus in a detachable manner, and a connector which is provided on the housing and electrically connectible with the electronic apparatus, wherein the housing partially projects from a bottom or other portion of the electronic apparatus when the housing is inserted into the electronic apparatus and the connector is connected with the electronic apparatus. Such an expansion unit, as partially projecting from the electronic apparatus, does not require a large body of the electronic apparatus for accommodating the entire body of the expansion unit, therefore contributing to realizing enhanced multi-functionality of the electronic apparatus that retains its compact, lightweight, and low-profile body.
The projecting portion of the housing may serve as a stand (e.g., tilt stand) for the electronic apparatus. This may allow an expansion unit to facilitate electronic-apparatus user""s operations in terms of ergonomics. The housing may include a card slot into which a card can be inserted. The expansion unit may expand functions of the card for the electronic apparatus. The connector may have an interface that can transmit a CardBus signal for a card, an interface that can transmit a PCI bus signal, a USB interface that can transmit a USB signal, and/or an interface that can transmit a file signal including data and programs the electronic apparatus can handle. This may provide an expansion unit capable of effectively extending a desired function among a storage system, a communication system, a printing system, an input system, and a security system.
The expansion unit may further include an image pickup device in the housing. This may provide an expansion unit capable of achieving an image pickup function of the electronic apparatus. The expansion unit may include a mechanism that is connected with the housing and allows the image pickup device to project from the housing, and the mechanism may be such that allows the image pickup device to project from the housing (e.g., pop-up mechanism). The mechanism serves to facilitate user operations. The electronic apparatus may include a display device, and the image pickup device may be mounted onto the housing in a detachable manner. The expansion unit may further include a cable that connects the image pickup device to the housing, and a mounting mechanism that allows the image pickup device that has been detached, to be mounted onto the display device of the electronic apparatus. This can ensure a wide image-shooting range of the image pickup device.
The expansion unit may further include a security device in the housing, and the security device may be a biometric device (or device using biological information), which may be any one of a fingerprint recognition device, a voiceprint recognition device, and a retina recognition device. This may provide an expansion unit that can expand a security function of the electronic apparatus.
The expansion unit may further include a wireless communication device or AC adapter in the housing. This may provide an expansion unit that can expand a communication or power function of the electronic apparatus.
An expansion unit as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing that can be inserted into an expansion bay slot in an electronic apparatus in a detachable manner, and a connector that is provided on the housing and electrically connectible with the electronic apparatus, wherein the connector has a USB interface that can transmit a USB signal. This may provide an expansion unit that can add a USB function to the electronic apparatus. The expansion unit may further comprise a USB terminal connectible with an external device. This may provide an expansion unit that facilitates an expansion of USB connector to the electronic apparatus.
An expansion unit as still another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing that can be inserted into an expansion bay slot in an electronic apparatus in a detachable manner, a connector that is provided on the housing and electrically connectible with the electronic apparatus, and a USB terminal connectible with an external device. This may provide an expansion unit that facilitates an expansion of USB connector to the electronic apparatus.
An expansion unit as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing that can be inserted into an expansion bay slot in an electronic apparatus in a detachable manner, an image pickup device that is provided in the housing, and a connector that is provided on the housing and electrically connectible with the electronic apparatus. This may provide an expansion unit that can add an image pickup function to the electronic apparatus. The expansion unit may further comprise a mechanism that is connected with the housing and allows the image pickup device to project from the housing (e.g., pop-up mechanism). This mechanism facilitates user operations. The image pickup device may be detachably provided in the housing. The expansion unit may also comprise a mounting mechanism for the image pickup device that has been detached. The expansion unit may further comprise a cable that connects the image pickup device and the housing to each other. This may ensure a wide image-shooting range of the image pickup device. The housing may further comprise a storage portion for the cable. This may ensure the image-shooting range of the image pickup device as far as the cable extends.
An expansion unit as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing that can be inserted into an expansion bay slot in an electronic apparatus in a detachable manner, an image pickup device that is stored in the housing, and a mechanism that is connected with the housing and allows the image pickup device to project from the housing (e.g., pop-up mechanism). This may provide an expansion unit that can add an image pickup function to the electronic apparatus. This mechanism facilitates user operations. The expansion unit may further comprise an angular adjustment mechanism for adjusting an angle of the image pickup device that has projected from the housing, with respect to the housing. This can ensure a wide image-shooting range of the image pickup device.
An expansion unit as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing that can be inserted into an expansion bay slot in an electronic apparatus and includes a plurality of card slots which can receive a plurality of cards, and a connector that is provided on the housing and electrically connectible with the electronic apparatus. The expansion unit may expand functions of the card for the electronic apparatus. This expansion unit may particularly have greatly extended functionality as the expansion unit can receive a plurality of cards.
An expansion unit as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing that can be inserted into an expansion bay slot in an electronic apparatus and includes a plurality of card slots which are arranged side by side and can receive plural types of cards each having a different height, and a connector that is provided on the housing and electrically connectible with the electronic apparatus. The expansion unit may expand functions of the card for the electronic apparatus. Particularly, this expansion unit does not prevent the electronic apparatus from being designed to be thin, as a plurality of cards in a different height arranged side by side in the expansion unit.
An expansion unit as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing that can be inserted into an expansion bay slot in an electronic apparatus in a detachable manner, and a holder provided in the housing for a communication device (e.g., cellular phone). This expansion unit may provide a convenient cellular phone holder for a user who uses the electronic apparatus and the cellular phone at the same time. The expansion unit may further comprise a connector that is provided on said housing and electrically connectible with said electronic apparatus. In that event, the housing may include a unit having the same function as, or different function from, the communication device. The holder may be stored in the housing and allowed to project from the housing. The expansion unit may further comprise a connection member enabling a connection between the communication device and the electronic apparatus. This expansion unit may expand a communication function for the electronic apparatus. For example, data created in the electronic apparatus can be transmitted through a cellular phone, and data can be received through the cellular phone.
An expansion unit as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing which can be inserted into an expansion bay slot in an electronic apparatus, a card reader, image-forming device image-input device, AC adapter, position detecting information receiver, bar code reader and/or infrared communication device provided in the housing, and a connector which is provided on the housing and electrically connectible with the electronic apparatus. This expansion unit may expand diverse functions for the electronic apparatus.
The before mentioned AC adapter means or includes a converter converting a commercial power supply to a power supply driving the electronic apparatus, a converter converting an external power supply to a power supply driving the electronic apparatus, a converter converting an alternating current power supply to a direct current power supply or the like.
An electronic apparatus as an exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing including an expansion bay slot into which an expansion unit can be inserted in a detachable manner, the expansion bay slot opening at a bottom of the housing to allow the expansion unit to partially project from the bottom of the housing, and a connector which is provided in the housing and electrically connectible with the expansion unit. Such an electronic apparatus, as permitting partial projection of the expansion unit, does not need to have a large body for receiving the entire body of the expansion unit, therefore contributing to realizing enhanced multiple functions of the electronic apparatus while keeping the apparatus compact, lightweight, and low-profile.
An electronic apparatus as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a first part having a slot, a second part which can be inserted into the slot on the first part in a detachable manner, and an interface device which electrically connects the first and second parts to each other, wherein the second part partially projects from a bottom of the electronic apparatus when inserted into the slot on the first part and electrically connected with the first part through the interface device. Such an electronic apparatus has the same effect as the above electronic apparatus.
An electronic apparatus as still another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a first part having a slot, a second part which can be inserted into the slot on the first part in a detachable manner, and an interface device which electrically connects the first and second parts, wherein the second part is partially projected from the electronic apparatus when inserted into the slot on the first part and electrically connected with the first part through the interface device. Such an electronic apparatus has the same effect as the above electronic apparatus and/or expansion unit.
An electronic apparatus as still another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing including an expansion bay slot into which an expansion unit can be inserted in a detachable manner, and a USB interface which is provided in the housing and can establish a USB connection with the expansion unit. This may provide an electronic apparatus compatible with the expansion unit having an USB interface.
An electronic apparatus as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a first part having a slot, a second part which is inserted into the slot on the first part in a detachable manner, and an image pickup device which has an interface device electrically connecting the first and second parts and is stored in the second part, and a mechanism which is connected with the second part and allows the image pickup device to project from the second part (e.g., pop-up mechanism). The electronic apparatus may further comprise an angular adjustment mechanism for adjusting an angle of the image pickup device that has projected from the second part, with respect to the second part. Such an electronic apparatus has the same effect as the above expansion unit.
An electronic apparatus as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing, an image pickup device which is stored in the housing so as to project from the housing, and an angular adjustment mechanism for adjusting an angle of the image pickup device that has projected from the housing, with respect to the housing while maintaining an electric connection between the image pickup device and the housing. Such an electronic apparatus has the same effect as the above expansion unit.
An electronic apparatus as another exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing including an expansion bay slot into which an expansion unit can be inserted in a detachable manner, the expansion bay slot having an opening at a bottom of the housing to allow the expansion unit to be partially projected from the bottom of the housing, a first connector which is provided in the housing and electrically connectible with a first expansion unit, and a second connector which is provided in the housing and electrically connectible with a second expansion unit. Such an electronic apparatus can retain its compact, lightweight, and low-profile body by allowing a partial projection of the expansion unit, and the connector with the expansion unit is divided into two to allocate the first and second connector in accordance with the kind of signal, frequency of use, and others, whereby efficient function expansion can be achieved. The above expansion bay slot may be shared by the first and second expansion unit, which allows the electronic apparatus to dispense with individual slot for each expansion unit, and thereby to retain its compact, lightweight, and low-profile body. The first connector may have an interface that can transmit a file signal including data and programs that the electronic apparatus can handle. The second connector may have an interface that can transmit a CardBus signal for a card and/or a USB interface that can transmit a USB signal. Accordingly, by allocating the first and second connectors in accordance with the kind of signal, efficient function expansion can be achieved, and the first and second expansion units can be loaded at the same time.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description of the embodiments with reference to accompanying drawings.